Victor Dreadstone
Victor Dreadstone is a major character in the first, second, third, fourth and fifth seasons. He is the Lord of the Dreadford, having supplanted House Bolton and personally killed Roose Bolton, and current Master of Swords for House Thalatrix of the Nest. He is the father of Dan, Marcus and Charlotte Dreadstone. Biography Early life and tragedy Born to Samwell and Amelia Dreadstone, Victor was the younger brother to Ramsley Dreadstone. His House was once a minor one to the vassal House Karstark of Karhold, but House Dreadstone had long since overthrown them and become a more powerful House - in the process, delighted at becoming richer, his parents became hedonists. As a boy, he was always somewhat impassive and cold-demeanoured, to such an extent that his parents mistook him for being born emotionless and therefore somehow ill. In truth, Victor was embarrassed and almost appalled by the overt extravagance that his parent demonstrated, decorating the castle at Karhold with gold, silks and statues of their ancestors which reduced their house to being in debt to House Bolton, the House to which they were vassal to. His father's hedonism persuaded him into several personal habits, such as only drinking wine once a year in his lifetime. At one point, Victor was very firm friends with Tywin Lannister of Casterly Rock, both of whom had a complete recognition and respect for one another's astuteness, resolve and intelligence, and shared their skewed view of their parents' shortcomings and multitude of flaws. The two of them fought during the War of the Ninepenny Kings when Victor was only eighteen and, like the rest of Tywin's brothers, Victor returned a seasoned warrior who developed fascinating observations as to how wars were truly fought, in that the warriors were almost always the pawns pushed by superior beings. Eventually, this debt led to a threatened war between House Bolton and House Dreadstone, and Roose Bolton personally threatened to take over Karhold and wipe out their family. Faced with this threat, Sam Dreadstone crumpled and became paranoid and frightened of everything around him. The result of this inter-house confrontation was a year-long bloody war called the Bolton Descent, which started when Victor's brother Ramsley was captured by the Boltons and secretly flayed and killed by Roose himself. During the war, Victor led his men against the Boltons, storming the Dreadford and personally slicing Roose Bolton shoulder-to-hip, killing him and ending the Bolton's existence as a House, apparently avenging his brother's undeniable death. This was his most infamous act in his life, and for it he was knighted by King Jaehaerys II Targaryen. For hitherto unspecified reasons, Victor had not wept since killing Roose Bolton. The true circumstances of the incident are not unveiled until years afterwards. He was the only lordly resident at Karhold when his father was returned to him from a brutal hunting trip, having been impaled on the antlers of a violent stag. Fatally wounded and dying, his father was rested in front of his surviving son, where it was declared that he would be made Lord of House Dreadstone. Sam Dreadstone lamented that Victor's brother was dead, but rejoiced that he had been avenged honourably - Victor replied to this, in a hushed tone, that it was not honourable, but his father was dead before he could understand this. Victor participated in the Rebellion of Robert Baratheon against King Aerys II Targaryen, and personally led the charge of his House against Rhaegar Targaryen. During the battle, he was described to have rode into the fray almost as furiously and unstoppably as Robert Baratheon and Rhaegar Targaryen combined, and cut around the Trident to circumvent the retreats possible for the Targaryen forces. However, moments before the famous final duel between Robert and Rhaegar, the Last Dragon unhorsed him. Victor witnessed the spectacular duel between the two lords, and confessed that he had never seen combat just like that which he saw unfold that day. Season 1 During the small rebellion in the Riverlands between House Tully and a massed group of Wildlings, Victor Dreadstone rides atop cliffs outside Riverrun and watches the wildlings encircle the castle and try to breach the drawbridge. Victor is joined soon by Brynden Tully, the Blackfish, and the two of them respectfully greet one another by their nicknames, before Brynden asks him why he has come at this point. Victor serenely explains that he has come to observe the subjugation of the losing side, which provokes further curiosity in the Blackfish. Suddenly, several small columns of Thalatrix soldiers explode from the woods and wipe out the wildlings and Brynden smiles at realizing what Victor meant. Victor, watching the skirmish, explains that House Tully need be indebted to House Thalatrix for being saved from a pack of wildlings, but they will be expected to gather at the Northern Ceremonial Tourney in some days time. With that, he rides away. He arrives at a small encampment and dismounts to meet with Lord Warren Thalatrix and the two of them eat alone in their pavilion. Victor explains the events that transpired at Riverrun, and his brief meeting with the Blackfish and what it means for their sitaution. Lord Thalatrix points out that, for unknown reasons, Lord Salmar Cray is amassing a large group of sellswords in the lower recesses of Snowhall, and Victor suspects that he is expecting some form of attack. Knowing that such a thing would be against the treaty that was sealed with the execution of Roose Bolton, the two of them agree that they will collectively ensure that such a thing will not transpire. When the Northmen gather at Winterfell, and Arya Stark watches him ride in through the gates, where Lord Eddard Stark greets Lord Thalatrix and Cray respectively. When he meets Victor, the two of them exchange words about Ned's father, Rickard Stark, since the latter fought alongside Lord Thalatrix against the Boltons, and was one of the few people to witness him returning from killing Roose Bolton. Surprisingly, Victor is unfazed by the mention of the man he dishonourably executed, and the two of them are seen later on talking in depth with one another, while Rience Thalatrix watching them alongside Sansa Stark, Ned's eldest daughter. Sansa spies Victor talking and asks Rience about the man, and Rience explains to her that Victor Dreadstone was once a fearsome war commander who had personally supplanted House Bolton and drastically bettered the status of his own house. Arya shows substantial interest in his words. Jon Snow is watching Rience Thalatrix and Robb Stark duelling in the courtyard, when he is joined by Victor Dreadstone. Jon greets him as a superior, and Victor bids he stand since the celebration omits status for a time and thus the two of them are equals. Jon remarks that, among the Northmen, he is referred to as a Dark Horse, the Dark Horse more accurately, and asks why. Victor remains silent for a moment and contemplates that it is rumoured he is called as such due to the fact that he came upon the Boltons like a Dark Horse, but it is in fact because there was a shadow upon his face apparently when he left the chambers of Roose Bolton with the man's blood on his blade. Jon asks if they are expecting a war, and Victor remarks that he hopes not, but if there is a war, then the only thing they can hope for is that the gods allow them to be as impenetrable as a man can be. When they return to the Nest with House Cray, Victor is one of the people who meets with Lord Thalatrix in his throne room to discuss the validities of the proposed tournament between the two houses, and when Lord Thalatrix contemplates the expenses Victor points out that the tournament, since it shows a union and peaceful respect between Lords Cray and Thalatrix, is the best way to rectify the possibility of a conflict between them. Leaving, he is confronted by Rience's brother Ferryn, who is dressing a scar he received in a duel with one of the younger recruits. Incensed by his humiliating loss, he tries to tirade Victor for being a coward and not stepping into battle since, not even daring to face men in combat. He circles the stoic lord, remarking that there isn't a scar on his body, unlike the honourable scar that Ferryn now possesses. The two of them lock eyes for a short time, before Victor finally revokes the arrogant fool's monologue by claiming that he, unlike Ferryn, fought in wars before the boy was conceived, and has both taken and delivered blows that would cripple an unsuspecting fool - the slight mark that Ferryn has on his face is a pinprick in comparison to the scars that Victor has received (Subtly referring to the news of his brother's death and violent flaying). Ferryn, stunned into silence, turns and leaves without saying a word. Victor is one of those who hear Rience's scream for the guards once Lord Thalatrix is assassinated, and at the time he locks eyes with Ser Kevan Spearton and Ser Kevan runs up to Lord Thalatrix's chambers, whilst Victor curiously watches. Season 2 Victor attends Lord Thalatrix's funeral, and is the person to read a rousing eulogy to his former friend, in which he dictates how much of a fearsome and respectable man the late lord was. After he speaks, Ser Kevan meets with him and remarks that the speech he gave was an inspirational one, but questioned whether or not there were ulterior meanings to it. Victor returns this by stating, honestly, that the acclaiming things he said about Lord Warren Thalatrix served the purpose of punctuating how heinous the crime of his murder was. Upon the departure of the master at arms, Victor receives a raven with a message, which provokes a concerned stare from him. Victor approaches Elia and begs leave of her to return to Karhold, explaining that he received a raven telling that his son Marcus has ridden out with his sister Charlotte to face House Polter, a vassal of House Cray and therefore an enemy of House Thalatrix. He says that he must return to keep his son from making a mistake, especially since the boy has taken his sister with him which is strategically unwise given that they do not know the full measure of what they are up against. Elia asks why he has approached her with such a question, when Rience is the heir to the Nest and Victor explains that Rience will seek to keep him too close than is wise, in that he is still shaken from his father's death. He leaves the Nest and rides for Karhold, where he arrives to discover his son Dan Dreadstone, his youngest son, trying to regent the territory and prevent any uprising, since he is considered uncharismatic in comparison to his father. However, Victor realizes that his son is a skilled politician and has circumvented the situation by distributing food in the lesser areas of Karhold. He confronts Dan in his chambers, and learns that beforehand Charlotte had been prone to shivering fits, uncommonly, from time to time, before she left with her brother. Victor assumes authority over his territory and orders that a raven be sent to his son, insisting upon his return. The raven is shot down secretly by Polter scouts, so the message never reaches Marcus or Charlotte, allowing a Polter attack to proceed against them. House Polter ambushes Marcus and a skirmish ensues, in which all of the Polter supporters that take part are killed, but not before Charlotte, in an unarmed struggle with a foot soldier, has her face plunged in snow, dramatically lowering her body temperature. When Charlotte begins to cough and experience violent shivers and convulsions, Marcus orders that they all return to Karhold, where he arrives to meet with a furious Victor, who sees his daughter scooped from her horse and carried to her chamber, tremoring violently. He walks into her chamber and finds her abed, with septas surrounding her - one of them tells him, sorrowfully, that she has Silverlips, as evidenced by the fact that her lips, consequent of the disease, have turned the colour of fresh steel. Victor does not react facially, but he is visibly stunned. When his daughter is left alone by the septas, he discovers that her lips have turned pure silver, gesticulating towards the possibility that it will kill her as it normally does at the stage succeeding this one. When she complains that she is beginning to feel the symptoms (A cracked voice, a seemingly frozen palate, a straight tongue, a painful effort to breathe), he pulls her in and hugs her, vowing that he will help her fight the disease. During a council meeting, Victor remains silent for half of the debate, where his sons argue over the political areas of him riding out to meet with House Polter. Dan accuses his brother of taking too many of their soldiers, and their sister, out for no reason but to prove military proficiency, and Marcus retorts that Charlotte had insisted upon joining them and that they had survived the ambush, killing their enemies. Victor joins the argument, stating that though they survived and won, they took no prisoners at all, provoking the inevitable wrath of House Polter, and their truest trophy was a sister who had a terrifying case of Silverlips. This silences the entire council, and Victor demands that they make political proceedings as opposed to proceedings on the blade of a sword, for as long as possible until such time as House Polter is distracted by the empowering war between Houses Thalatrix and Cray, at which point they will be divided in numbers between serving their superior House and fighting another House. When his daughter begins to suffocate as a result of the disease, Victor confines himself to his chambers where he sits, thinking. He is approached by Marcus, who insists upon receiving utter blame for his sister's predicament, to which Victor calmly acclaims his son for his humility. He reveals that, though he is thinking primarily about Charlotte, he has also devised a strategy to circumvent the advantage of House Polter - they will lay small groups of men on the routes in and out of the Polter stronghold, preventing any receival of food and any cry for help on their part. House Polter will have no choice but to either face them politically on even ground, or to risk losing troops that would be put to better use against House Thalatrix. His son agrees upon the strategy, before stating that the septas insist that Charlotte be transported straight to King's Landing, where it is irrevocably warmer and where a Grand Maester will be willing to treat her better. He agrees, but insists that Marcus, to be taught humility and retribution, go with her to guard her. He embraces his steel-lipped daughter, who can now barely speak above a rasp for fear of worsening the disease, and vows that she will return to him with a voice as high as the mountains and as beautiful as the meadows. In an attempt to sway Victor, House Polter deploy an armed escort for Ser Brynden Polter, the youngest son of Lord Perleon Polter. Ser Brynden negotiates with Victor over the terms of treaty between them, claiming that they share a common enemy - House Thalatrix. When Victor denies this, Ser Brynden attempts to provoke Victor into making a rash decision and provide them with the moral high ground, by speculating how Victor marrying a Stark, who have allegedly had an untold and hitherto infrequent history of Silverlips, is to blame for Charlotte's disease. This provokes Dan's rage, but Victor is unmoved, ordering that he be imprisoned until he is ready to truly negotiate - however, they will have a treaty if he would apologise and reciprocate for the remark about Victor's daughter. Brynden arrogantly refuses, and Victor imprisons him, where Dan threatens torture and agony for him in penance for insulting Victor. However, Victor soon contemplates that this would be politically marring for them if they kept Brynden imprisoned, but if they returned him to his lord father with the information that he had dishonourably insulted not one, but two noble houses gratuitously, it would be damaging for the reputation and support of House Polter, and also House Cray for supporting and being supported by House Polter. He sends Ser Brynden back, and the news of his arrogance rattles Lord Polter as was predicted, and Lord Polter, sympathetic to his opponent's situation out of respect, disowns his son, casting him out where his best option is to live out the rest of his life as a common sellsword. Hearing this news, Victor calls for another treaty, but Lord Polter controversially insists that his son does not speak for him, therefore Lord Polter did not insult him and no reciprocation was necessary, therefore there was no treaty - their conflict will continue. In response, Victor unsheaths his sword and calls behind him, and the entirety of the Dreadstone forces appear, spears drawn and battle-ready. On Victor's command, the army charges, with Victor standing on horseback triumphantly as his army passes around him, eyes locked with Lord Polter, who can only watch in horror as his men are scythed down by their enemy. Triumphant, Victor sheaths his sword and turns his horse around, remarking Onwards, We Ride. Season 3 Victor's forces have now taken White Harbor, restoring House Manderly as its ruler and maintaining their seat on the Dreadford and Karhold. Victor rides to King's Landing to be with his daughter for a while before the impeding Battle of the Labyrinth. He receives a message that Rience Thalatrix has escaped Snowhall and returned to the forces of House Thalatrix, and contemplates that they would be stronger under such a proven and proficient commander, but speculates also that he would be motivated by vengeance as opposed to honour, which would improve his House's chances of victory. When Victor arrives at King's Landing, he is greeted by Kingsguard Meryn Trant and, riding past the Sept of Baelor everybody watches him pass, because up until now he has not come to King's Landing and is prominently remembered as the man who executed Roose Bolton. When he arrives, he is greeted by his old friend Tywin Lannister and they greet one another with an extremely rare, almost brotherly, embrace. He is escorted to Grand Maester Pycelle's chambers, where Pycelle explains that she is on the verge of recovering from Silverlips, but as per usual the condition will leave her with her lips hard and steely, though she will still be able to breathe and speak and eat or drink. When he asks to see his daughter, Pycelle pompously rejects this, saying that the septa's and maesters cannot be interrupted in their process of curing her, and it may be damaging for her improvement to be excited by her father's presence. Victor retorts by stating that, since she is his daughter and he is a lord, he will see his daughter whenever he sees fit, silencing Pycelle. When Victor is called before the Iron Throne, he is acclaimed by Robert for diligently serving his superior House, and thus could be an example for everyone under Robert as to how they could spend their time - serving their 'rightful' king. When Victor thanks Robert, bowing slightly, for his acclaim, he claims that no award is necessary in war until afterwards, for which Robert snaps at him, calling him a fool and expressing his belief that the highborn should be applauded for any deed done in their life..just like he was applauded for halving Roose Bolton. Victor meets this with a steely glare and bows to Robert, before turning to leave. When Victor goes to meet his daughter in her chambers, he meets with Charlotte, he meets with Cersei Lannister, who has been periodically taking turns with other noblewomen to care for Charlotte, checking her pulse and temperature periodically since Charlotte's recovery requires for her to sleep fourteen hours a day over the past week and they must check she hasn't died in her sleep. She apologises for Robert's brazen arrogance back in the Throne Room and his scorning of an honourable act, to which Victor surprises her with the comment that it wasn't an honourable act. He then changes the subject and comments that she looks shockingly like her father, which causes her to turn quiet, until he says that he knew Tywin when they were much younger men and respected him a great deal for his resolve. When she smiles calmly and asks if he had as good an image of his father, Victor stops for a moment, unnerving her. He states that he did have an image of his father, speculated over every single year that they knew one another - that they had different contemplations of what honour and respect and image meant. When they reach Charlotte's chamber, he shakes Cersei's hand and thanks her for the company, before pacing over and sitting beside his daughter's bed. When Victor is sitting by his daughter's bed again, he sits by her and she finally wakes up, a tear in her eye at seeing her father again. She extends a hand to her father and he takes it, and she smiles at him. She voices her joy that she is alive to see him, and he does likewise in that both of them are alive to see one another. She reminds him suddenly how he promised to tell her about the day Roose Bolton was killed by her father. Reluctantly, he agrees with her and begins to tell her about the final battle with House Bolton all those years ago. Victor reminisces storming the Dreadford, seeing the lords and commanders of his enemy rattled to pieces under the hooves of their cavalry. He was soon eparated from his men by a flaming catapult attack, before penetrating the castle and fighting through the House guard towards Roose Bolton's chambers, where he intended to extricate a surrender from the lord - he makes it clear that he intended to take the lord alive. However, when he entered, he was greeted with the skeleton of his dead brother hung as a decoration by the bedpost, which elicits a look of shock from Charlotte. He continues that Roose Bolton was waking up and only just noticed Victor as he entered. Victor realized that the Bolton lord was sleeping in a cloak made of his brother's flayed skin, and just as Roose got up to defend himself, Victor cut him down, almost cutting him in two. He is aware of the look of absolute horror on Charlotte's face, and continues that he was too shocked to weep for his brother over the body of his dead enemy. He concludes that this is the real reason that he hates his late father - if Samwell Dreadstone hadn't been as frivolous as he was, then there would not have been a war and Ramsley would still be alive. Tywin and Victor are in Tywin's chambers, reminiscing about the last time they met and the War of the Ninepenny Kings when Cersei arrives and tells him that Maester Pycelle has allowed Charlotte out of her chambers and that she is in the gardens with Margaery. Victor is told that Charlotte is fit to travel and has fully recovered from Silverlips. He and Tywin bid one another farewell in front of Cersei, who shivers with anger at the fact that Tywin shows better connections with Victor than he does with her. By carriage, they leave King's Landing, where they ride back to Karhold. They arrive to see that the Labyrinth has been divided into two respective factions - the camps of Thalatrix and Cray. They take a detour to Karhold, where they arrive to find that both his sons are suiting up for the impeding battle. When Dan moves past his father to avoid being chastised for taking an unwise move in joining the battle, Victor's only response is to clasp his hand on his son's shoulder and say I wish you good fortune in the fray to come, echoing the words of Ser Arthur Dayne before his climactic death. When the Battle of the Labyrinth climactically commences, Victor is on horseback as usual on a hilltop overlooking the battle. While his daughter sleeps, she accidentally Greensees into her father's mind and experiences a day where Victor was watching a massive party at Karhold, where Victor and Tywin Lannister exchange disappointment in their fathers' extreme hedonism. During the vision, Charlotte spies Victor looking over at his brother Ramsley duelling with the other knights, enjoying themselves, and Victor states that though they are different in so many respects he still loves his brother. She then Greensees her father's face as he watches the Battle, seeing the same exact expression on his face as the younger Victor did back at the party. Suddenly, she is interrupted by Greenseeing the face of a man in red and black leather armour, as the man rides on horseback across the field and seeing Victor Dreadstone with vehemence in his eyes. Victor is one of the multitudes who bow their heads when they hear that Rience Thalatrix has been killed by Benjen Thalatrix on the Labyrinth. At the banquet hall, Victor walks into the centre of the crowd and raises a glass of Dornish wine alongside Elia Thalatrix to Rience's name. For the first time, he sees the man in red and black armour in the shadows and his face pulsates with recognition. Season 4 Although the Thalatrix army won the Battle of the Labyrinth, it was done with brutal losses, including their male heir, and they are left with a prominent disadvantage in the war - the men are shaken by the loss of Rience, and are more motivated to fight by blind revenge as opposed to loyalty to the Owlclaw. When House Cray starts to cut off their supply lines and prepare for a siege, Victor sends his men into battle against the Cray groups, they are ambushed by an unknown second party and caught in a vicious crossfire, in which Victor spies the man in red and black armour that he recognized earlier fighting in the skirmish. He orders that his men withdraw, since he would rather lose a small ground than watch innumerable numbers of his men die for ultimately no reason. He is pulled closer to Snowhall when Elia insists he lead a group of Thalatrix and Dreadstone soldiers against Ramsgate, where House Polter is trying to amass a small army to support House Cray - they are being supported by a man described to be wearing red and black leather armour, whose name remains unspecified. He decides that the man is a substantial threat and must be extinguished at the first available opportunity. Victor leads the men and they raid Ramsgate, sacking the castle and discovering that there are only a large group of sellswords situated there, no knights or soldiers, and Victor soon realizes that it was a ploy and House Polter's new forces are massing to attack Karhold. House Polter, led by the leather-armoured man, lead a cavalry force on Karhold, where only a small number of them penetrate their defences. Victor arrives with his forces and cuts most of them down, and Victor charges into Karhold and the guards, motivated by his arrival, fight off the invaders. Victor hears that some of the Polter men are making for Charlotte's chambers. He charges there, only to hear her intense shrieking and sees three men leave her room, their garments bundled and significantly staggering in their pace. He enters Charlotte's room and finds her bedsheets torn and crumpled around her, her dress ripped and her face read and washing with tears - the three Polter men had gang-raped her. Furious, Victor turns and personally pursues the three men as they elude the Dreadstone army and escape. He pursues them on horseback through the Labyrinth, and the impossible terrain of the Labyrinth, still heavily wasted by the corpses and discarded weapons of the Battle of the Labyrinth, causes one of them to be unhorsed and for his falling steed to crush one of his legs, and the other two pick him up and carry him, but Victor corners them against a rockface. When the three rapers try to attack him simultaneously, he draws his sword to block their strikes in one blow, then slitting their throats simultaneously with the second blow. Victor returns to Karhold, leaving the corpses of the rapers for the wolves to eat. He finds that all of the attackers have been killed, bar the leather-armoured man who has demanded a meeting with the Lord of House Dreadstone. Victor personally meets him, alone, and the man introduces himself as Cedric Bolton, the legitimate but abandoned son of Roose Bolton. Victor reacts with subtle surprise at this, realizing that the open animosity towards him expressed by Cedric makes absolute sense now. The two of them make conversation about how their lives have progressed since the Bolton Descent. The conversation is packed with intricately veiled threats, derisions and insults, and the two of them soon come to the subject as to the purpose of this invasion, to which Cedric explains that he intended for the invaders bar him to be killed, all in order to persuade Victor to meet with him - either he will turn on House Thalatrix, or Cedric will reveal that Roose Bolton's death in the entirety of its circumstances, and how dishonourable it was. The conversation ends with two locking eyes, before Cedric turns to leave with the words Perhaps we could have another go at your Cointongue daughter - metal to metal, and you know us Boltons...Our Blades Are Sharp! Pressed in by the threat by the son of a man he had killed, Victor is left to contemplate the situation. He discusses this with Marcus, who volunteers to personally kill Cedric himself since that would end the whole situation at a stroke, but Victor speculates that this would be too risky a move since that may be just what Cedric is anticipating and he may have a backup strategy to deal with that very situation. Marcus explains that Charlotte has been left shaken by the gang-rape and has remained in her room since the attempted siege, but at the same time they are being demanded to appear at the Nest to assist in the war against House Cray, which they have begun to lose. Victor realizes that Cedric's appearance is an intentional distraction from the war, removing a powerful player from the game so House Thalatrix is ripe for the taking without the cavalry provided by House Dreadstone. In the meantime, House Thalatrix is buckled by House Cray after a disastrous defeat at Moat Cailin in an attempt by both sides to take it, which results in Lord Cray's army taking it. Considering the fact that they will soon be overrun by the growing support for House Cray, which will only be expanded if the true circumstances of Roose Bolton's death are revealed, Victor visits the Godswood and prays to the Old Gods of the Forest for guidance. In this situation, a malevolent vision of Roose Bolton appears and torments Victor, who calmly confronts the man's ghost, upturning his attempts at eliciting guilt by reminding him of how he flayed and literally wore the skin of who was supposed to be his honourable prisoner. Victor then speculates that this is what provoked him into disregarding honour for effectiveness in the first place, the same way his father's frivolity resulted in his stoicism. Victor's vision changes and he is alone in the Godswood. He decides that he must face Cedric on his own grounds - the dishonourable grounds. Victor summons Cedric to the grounds of Karhold where he openly confesses that he cut the Bolton lord down while he was unarmed, but further pointing out that the man was a dishonourable man (Provoking anger in Cedric), and that it was to balance the fact that Bolton had sported the skeleton of Ramsley Dreadstone in front of his door as a sadistic torment for his enemies, and planned to sell it to the lowest bidder. The sudden display of Roose Bolton's dishonour not only unveils the situation in which the man died, but renders his son's strategy for dethroning Victor to be ineffective and leaving him wide open. Voicing the fact that Cedric intended to underhandedly reveal these secrets in a damaging and inhuman perspective, Victor turns and names Cedric as an enemy of the realm and a traitor to his rightful cause, since House Dreadstone supplanted House Bolton and as a result House Bolton owes allegiance to their victors. In a desperate attempt to survive the situation, Cedric challenges Victor to a duel, which Victor accepts. Once he declares the commencement of the duel, Cedric charges and Victor holds his own narrowly during the duel, being considerably out of practise with the blade. However, he soon puts Cedric on the defensive and eventually outpaces his opponent, impaling him through a gap in his armour. He whispers Give your lord father my regards into Cedric's ear before Cedric falls, dead. Victor has Cedric's body minced and placed in a jar, commanding that they be sent back to House Cray, specifically insisting that it be sent with a note stating that, if any more men are sent to threaten and manipulate him, then they will be returned in the exact same condition. Season 5 Marcus Dreadstone volunteers to lead a group of Thalatrix soldiers in an attempt to route around the Cray host that is currently honing in on the Nest, knowing that a successful attack on the Nest will end the war at a stroke and force House Dreadstone to be vassal, if not lower, to House Cray. Victor is in his war rooms whilst his son is leading his troops, and the attack on the Cray forces is successful, but Victor's son is captured in the process by Benjen Thalatrix. Victor is furious at the capture of his son and demands that he be released, because Lord Cray's son Ron was coincidentally captured in the combat. When Lord Cray demands this in return, Victor chooses not to reply, knowing that Lord Cray will come himself if he is truly desperate to get his son back. With Cedric Bolton dead, Victor is freed from the strain of having to deal with him and simultaneously fight a war that they are ultimately losing. He eventually receives a raven stating that Lord Cray is heading towards Karhold and calls for his guard to be issued, in case of any treachery that the tactless lord may play. When Lord Cray arrives, he greets Victor on horseback and then rides around him, as if to try and exert authority over the legendary man, to no avail. Lord Cray dismounts and moves into the main hall of Karhold, where they begin to discuss the terms of their prisoners' exchange. Lord Cray offers to release Marcus on the condition that Ron be released first, and three days succeeding this Marcus will walk free. Lord Cray is met with disagreement. He responds to this disagreement by pulling a chainmail hood over his head and calling out Now!. As the Dreadstone family gathers, crossbowmen appear out of hiding, with Cray bannermen producing crossbows and knives and cleaving through the military inhabitants of Karhold, including the governors. Victor himself is struck four times, twice in one leg. He goes down and takes cover, searching the ensuing chaos for Lord Cray. He sees Dan cut down by an unveiled Benjen Thalatrix. As his followers are murdered, he finds Lord Cray and rabidly attacks him, ripping a crossbow bolt out of one of his legs and impaling his enemy repeatedly in the stomach, drawing blood. Benjen pulls him away and, just as Charlotte arrives, runs him through the back. Victor is thrown to the floor in a bloody mess. The event is called the Turncloak's Treaty, to insult Lord Cray. Although all of the Dreadstones, bar Charlotte, are killed, with Charlotte made a prisoner of the Crays for the entertainment of Benjen, Victor had prematurely arranged for certain things to be caused in the event of his death in the war: Lord Cray suddenly discovers that he no longer has sufficient forces to truly take the North by force of arms, since several of his vassal supporters, spurred by him using Cedric Bolton to try and depose Victor, have defected and turned against him, balancing out the war. Victor himself is buried, after Lord Cray's death, in Karhold's burial grounds, alongside his father, and his daughter, upon being released by Rience Thalatrix, visits his grave every week. Effectively, in murdering House Dreadstone, Lord Cray has cost himself the war because he could have taken the Nest, with the support he previously had, before Rience Thalatrix returned, but couldn't because of the Turncloak's Treaty. Personality and Appearance Victor is very tall, with an extremely imposing stature and demeanour, stony muscles and wide cheekbones. His hair is honey-yellow, and he has an elegant beard which has stayed in exactly the same way for most of his life. His eyes are thick opal-blue. When in battle, he looks spectacular on horseback, wearing resplendent orange armour, normally with a gorget instead of a helmet, and a broad purple cloak for ceremonial purposes, with his longsword belted to his waist. The stallion of House Dreadstone is emblazoned on his cloak. When not in combat he wears a long-sleeved blood-orange tunic with a silver-decorated collar, cuffs and waist. Typical of his House, he is a master horseman. Victor is widely famed and recognized to be an extremely diligent, steadfast and dedicated to the success of the goals he is faced with, be it military or political in nature and circumstance. He had a profusely powerful presence and a reserved disposition in the presence of others, always speaking confidently and with self-assurance. Victor's attitude was often critical, precise and sometimes impassive to the distresses around him. The true example of his steadfastness, determination and astute devotion to his house was his ability to singlehandedly restore his entire territories to economical prominence, even after his father had nearly run it into the ground with his fierce extravagance and indulgence with food, alcohol and decoration. Therefore, Victor developed some firm personal preferences, including only ever drinking wine once a year, ensuring that the drink he was toasting to was an exemplary one, and steadily accounting for the amount that he ate. Victor was once a master swordsman in his youth, and still somehow retained his skill with a blade in his adulthood despite not entering a battle since the end of the Mad King's reign - he was able to simultaneously cut the throats of three approaching opponents with the same blow. His swordsmanship was attributed to the fact that, though he was reluctant at first to wield a weapon in battle, he dedicated his energies to combat prowess as he did all of his ambitions. Victor was also a political genius and an unparalleled military commander, which is evidenced again by him being able to overthrow House Bolton, restore his House to prominence and maintain both the Dreadford and Karhold in that respect. It has been widely speculated that Victor was a person with an intimidating and overpowering presence, and whenever he spoke the entire room was silenced because he had such a powerful tone. He was both respected and feared by his allies and enemies, believed to be the epitomizing stallion of his house in that he would never cease in efforts until victory was at hand in either situation. He did not normally participate in battle since the Trident, preferring to watch from afar, but that did not mean he was unsympathetic to the situations of his men - he would rather have failed his superiors than watch thousands of his men die needlessly, and he understood that any provisions caught hunting would be preserved for the men and not the lords. He was ashamed of his father for being what he perceived as a precise embarrassment to the family name and reputation, and would become distant and aloof when the subject of his father and their relationship was discussed. However, he recognized that his father was shaped by his situation, and that he was no different in that respect. Category:Characters Category:Characters from the North Category:Warrior Category:Lords Category:Siblings Category:Deceased